In the Dark of the Night

By LeMistressV

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters okay? Etc, etc, etc…So don't sue! And please don't bother flaming me, because they will be ignored.

Summary: In an alternate universe, Quistis Trepe is the daughter of a rich and mighty king. Inheriting her mother's powers, she has now become a great threat to the kingdom. Who can save her? Squall, Seifer, or Irvine? Find out. Slight RINOA BASHING!! If you don't like this, then LEAVE!! But I promise Rinoa fans that she'll have a happy ending!!! Please R&R!!!! Also, there may be slight OOC and GRAMMATICAL ERRORS!! IF YOU HATE THIS SORT OF THING, I SUGGEST YOU LEAVE NOW!!!

Chapter 1

Quistis shivered as the cool, night breeze swept across her face as she walked towards her balcony. This was her favorite spot in the entire castle, since it provided her with the beautiful view of the whole kingdom. It was also a beautiful place to think.

The lovely princess inhaled deeply the sweet scents of the outdoors and smiled slightly. Tucking a loose strand of golden hair behind her ear, she thought excitedly about her upcoming 18th birthday. Closing her eyes, Quistis remembered her mother's soft and frail voice whispering in her ear when she was merely a child.

"Listen to me, Angel, and listen well. On your 18th birthday, you shall inherit my powers that I will pass onto you before my time comes. By doing so, you will be the most powerful ruler of this kingdom. But when this time shall come, there will be many dangers you must overcome. You must look after yourself and this kingdom, and you must be careful on the night of your 18th birthday, for that is when you will be most vulnerable…"

Despite her mother's warning, Quistis still could not help the excitement that rushed through her. Soon she will inherit the magic that her mother had treasured most. Finally she could posses the blue magic that ran deep within her mother's side of the family.

There was a soft knock coming from her richly decorated room, causing the beautiful girl's train of thought to vanish. Glancing over her shoulder, Quistis realized it was her lady-in-waiting, Lady Selphie Tilmitt, also her best friend.

Selphie bowed slightly and walked towards Quistis. "Sorry for just walking in. Was I interrupting you?" she asked with her usual cheerfulness.

Quistis shook her head. "No, I was just thinking," she answered, looking away from the view of the city.

"Aren't you excited?" Selphie asked curiously.

"What do you mean?" Quistis asked in slight confusion.

"I mean for your birthday tomorrow. Shouldn't you be excited for tomorrow?" Selphie clarified.

Quistis nodded. "Yes, I am excited. What news do you bring?" she inquired, smiling slightly.

Selphie hopped up and down with excitement, her short brown hair bouncing up and down along with her. "Your father's back! He says he's got a surprise for you. Maybe you should see him now," she squealed happily.

"Father? He's back already?" Quistis questioned, widening her smile.

"He just arrived after dinner. C'mon! What are you waiting for?" the lady-in-waiting said impatiently. She grabbed Quistis' hand and nearly dragged her towards the throne room.

Both nobles finally made it to the throne room, slightly out of breath. There they both saw the king's back turned towards them, as if in a deep conversation with someone.

Quistis smoothened her peach colored dress before addressing her father. "Father?" she asked softly, but loud enough to be heard.

Cid turned his head around and smiled happily as his daughter ran into his arms. "Angel! You've grown so much after I left," he exclaimed, hugging Quistis in a tight embrace.

Quistis smiled and let go of the hug. "It's been awhile, when we last saw each other," she said.

Cid nodded. "Well it's time to make up for the wasted time I've spent on my journey. Angel, I want you to meet my new wife and queen of this kingdom, Lady Edea," he said, signaling the person behind him to move forward. He placed his arm around Edea's shoulders and smiled.

Edea smiled back first at Cid then at Quistis and Selphie.

Quistis was taken aback in shock. She began to say something, but the words were suddenly caught in her throat. Never had she expected Cid to marry without informing her first.

Selphie said nothing, but swiftly nudged Quistis in the ribs.

"W…welcome to Balamb, Lady Edea," Quistis finally said, bowing slightly.

Edea nodded her head and put a hand on Quistis' shoulder, a warm smile plastered on her pale lips. "You must be Princess Quistis. Your father has told me many things about you. He's very lucky to have a daughter such as yourself," she said in low and wispy voice. She glanced over her shoulder and withdrew the hand on Quistis' shoulder. The mysterious queen nodded at someone, signaling them to come forward.

At that moment, a young man, about Quistis' age walked towards them. He carried a large and sharp Gunblade next to him as he walked towards Edea.

Quistis stared into the young man's cold, green eyes for a moment. She found his gaze quite penetrating in a way, as if he could read her thoughts. Looking away, she studied his stern and expressionless face, avoiding the eyes as much as possible.

Edea smiled, as he stood right next to her. "Quistis, this is my son, Prince Seifer Almasy," She introduced.

Quistis heard Selphie mutter something under her breath but quickly ignored it as the cold, green eyes began to stare at her. Hesitantly, Quistis curtsied at Seifer and forced a smile on her lips. "W…w…welcome to Balamb, Sir Seifer," she stuttered to say.

Seifer said nothing, but looked away from Quistis. His gaze was suddenly caught by a blonde figure leaning against the doorframe.

The lovely princess followed his gaze and realized that her younger brother was watching them carefully. Especially Seifer.

"Zell…" Quistis began, turning to face her brother.

"What's going on here?" Zell asked, walking towards Quistis. He glanced at Cid, Edea, then at Seifer. "It's Zell, Prince of Balamb," he introduced, glaring at Seifer mysteriously. "And you are?"

Seifer returned the glare but said nothing.

Cid looked rather puzzled, but he said nothing about. "Zell, meet your new mother, Lady Edea. And your new brother, Seifer."

Edea smiled pleasantly. "How do you do?"

Zell nodded. "Pleasure to meet you," he muttered softly. He then walked away, grabbing hold of Quistis' hand.

Quistis glanced at Cid and Edea. "It was a pleasure. Please excuse us," she said, following Zell.

Selphie quickly followed, not wanting to be left behind.

Quistis pulled her hand away from her brother's clutch. "Zell? What is your problem?" she demanded, somewhat irritated.

Zell sighed and glanced around the room. "I don't trust that Seifer. I want you and Selphie to stay away from him. He means trouble," he commanded, crossing his arms over his chest.

Selphie giggled slightly. "Aren't you the selfish one, Zell. Afraid you might loose two beauties at once?" she teased.

At this Zell grinned slightly. He turned to look at Quistis and became stern again. "Please watch out for yourself, sister dear. Especially tomorrow."

Another giggle emerged from Selphie's lips as she tried her best to contain it with a small hand of hers. "Forgive me," she said as the two blondes glanced at her. "…But you can hardly take care of yourself, Zell. Imagine, a rather odd looking tattoo stuck onto the side of your face forever. I'd rather think that was quite careless of you attaining such a thing."

Hearing this, the young prince ran a pale hand against his tattooed cheek, grinning once again. "Careless?" he asked in quite a shock. "This was an expensive tattoo! Besides, I find it quite dashing. It brings out my charming looks," he added, fixing his collar as he held a dreamy look in his blue eyes.

Quistis gently touched her lips with her hand as she smiled. "Oh really? As I recall, father had been quite furious about your tattoo. Wouldn't talk to you for weeks. Then of course there was Grandfather and Grandmother. They had–"

The young prince cleared his throat loudly, a slight tinge of red rising to his cheeks. "Let's not get to that subject…again. That has nothing to do with my point! Now, what I mean," he paused as he gave the grinning Selphie a menacing glare, "without further interruptions…is that you have to watch out for yourself. Remember what mom said before she died…"

"I know. I haven't forgotten mother's warning. I'll be fine, Zell," she answered. Watching Zell leave she frowned slightly. "He is always so defensive around me. Every time someone new comes up he always tells me to stay away from them," she muttered to Selphie.

Selphie shrugged. "Yeah well maybe he's just protective over you," she suggested.

"Protective? He's already overprotecting me," Quistis answered, walking towards her chambers.

Her best friend shrugged again. "Someday it might do you some good."

*

A young man dressed in a brown trench coat and a cowboy hat closed his left eye as he aimed at something with his favorite sniper. As he was about to pull the trigger, the door behind him suddenly burst open. Irvine yelped and jumped at the same time, causing him to pull the trigger in suspense. There was a loud bang as a bullet shot out of the young man's sniper.

Irvine whirled around frustratingly at his companion. "Squall!!! You made me miss my target! Now I'll have to find another goddamn bird for dinner!!!" he shouted in frustration. "What the hell am I supposed to eat for dinner now?!"

Squall raised an eyebrow, looking at his friend carelessly. "…Irvine, you're my steward. Why would you be out here on the balcony when you could just go to the kitchen and grab a bite to eat?" he asked calmly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Can't," Irvine replied. "The cook kicked me out of his kitchen after I kept flirting with his maids." He put down his sniper as his stomach growled loudly. "'Don't come back in here,' he says. 'You're ruining everything,' he says," he grumbled, mimicking the cook's tone as he put on a face.

The handsome prince sighed and shoved in Irvine's hand a platter full of food. "I figured he'd kick you out again," he muttered in boredom. "The entire castle could hear the cook's screams of anger as she chased you out of his kitchen."

The young steward blushed as he tipped the edge of his hat towards his face. "…You…heard about that?"

"According to my calculations almost everyone but Laguna heard your pained screams of terror as the cook threatened to chop off your fingers while chasing you down with a rather large slice of frozen meat," Squall retorted in an unemotional tone.

"Hmph! That was slightly more information than what you and everyone else in this place needed to know. Besides, it was a large frozen slice of meat! It was a large frozen leg of the pork you're having for dinner tonight. I'll tell you, that cook sure does work out," Irvine answered, grabbing the platter from his best friend's hands and gobbling it all up before Squall could blink. "Mmm…man that's good stuff!" he exclaimed, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "Man, you're the best, buddy."

Squall just shrugged with his usual "whatever."

There was a soft chuckle from behind Squall as a young woman walked next to him. "Oh, Irvine, you eat like a pig. A nobleman such as yourself shouldn't eat like one," she said, wrapping her arms around Squall's arm.

Squall flinched slightly, but made no movement. "…Whatever."

Irvine shrugged. "Can't help it, Rinny. I was kicked out of the kitchen ever since this morning. I've been starving all day," he explained, swallowing a glass full of liquid

"I know. I've heard," was the short retort coming from the dark hard woman. Rinoa sighed and glanced up at Squall, a longing look in her eyes. "Squally, do you have to go away tomorrow just to attend some girl's birthday? Why can't you spend the rest of the day with me tomorrow?" she whined, tightening her grip on his arm.

Squall shrugged off her grasp with no effort at all. "I already spend every single day with you," he grumbled miserably to himself.

Irvine glanced first at Squall then to Rinoa. "Well, you can come with us if you want to, Rinny," he suggested, glancing at Squall.

The prince moved his gaze towards Irvine and turned it into a glare. His eyes narrowed slightly as he clenched his teeth together.

His best friend gulped, realizing that Squall did not want Rinoa to come with them. "Um…that is, you don't really wanna come to a boring party anyway. All that's there is a bunch of people listening to music and dancing and–"

"Dancing?" Rinoa interrupted. She glanced at Squall and frowned. "Oh, Squall, you know how much I love to dance! Take me with you, please," she begged, holding on his arm again.

Squall growled softly and smacked his forehead. "Irvine…" he growled in a low and dangerous rumble.

"Oops…did I say the wrong thing again?" Irvine laughed nervously as Squall continued to glare at him.

Squall pulled his arm from Rinoa's reach and quickly left the room, with Rinoa in hot pursuit.

Irvine shrugged. "Oh well. At least that should keep him busy enough to give me time on my target practice," he said to himself as he aimed at the sky again. This time he shot at his target perfectly, causing a loud shriek to pierce the air.

After a moment or so, a dead bird dropped dead in front of Irvine's feet.

"Heh, that's another one for my collection."